2014-15 Season
The 2014–15 Chicago Blackhawks season was the 89th season for the NHL. The Blackhawks finished the season with a 48–28–6 record, finishing in third place in the Central Division. They defeated the Nashville Predators in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs 4 games to 2. In the next round, they swept the Minnesota Wild 4 games to 0. In the Western Conference Finals, the Hawks outlasted the Anaheim Ducks, winning the series 4 games to 3. In the Stanley Cup Final, they faced the Tampa Bay Lightning. On June 15, 2015, the team won the Stanley Cup, beating the Lightning 4 games to 2, and winning the Cup at home for the first time since 1938. This was the Blackhawks' third Cup championship in six seasons. Duncan Keith received the Conn Smythe trophy as MVP of the playoffs. Off-Season On July 14, 2014, the Blackhawks announced that Kevin Dineen (a former teammate of head coach Joel Quenneville) had been hired as an assistant coach. Pre-Season The Chicago Blackhawks pre-season schedule included a September 28, 2014, exhibition game held at the Credit Union Centre in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada against the Edmonton Oilers. Team Leaders *Goals: Jonathan Toews (28) *Assists: Jonathan Toews (38) *Points: Jonathan Toews (66) *Penalties in minutes (PIM): Andrew Shaw (68) *Plus/minus (+): Jonathan Toews (30); (−): Patrick Sharp & Andrew Shaw (−8) *Wins: Corey Crawford (32) *Goals against average: Antti Raanta (1.89) Playoffs The Chicago Blackhawks entered the playoffs as the Central Division's third seed. The Blackhawks lost the last three games of the regular season, thus they did not win the Central Division title. After defeating the Nashville Predators 4–2 in the first round, they went on to sweep the Minnesota Wild in the second round, and defeated the Anaheim Ducks, 4-3 in the Western Conference Final. It was only the third time in Blackhawks history that they had won a playoff series after trailing 3 games to 2. On May 19, 2015, the Blackhawks played the longest game in their history (116:12) against the Anaheim Ducks as part of the Western Conference Finals. They defeated Anaheim in game 7 and moved on to face the Tampa Bay Lightning in the Stanley Cup Final. On June 15, 2015, Chicago won the Stanley Cup in game six with a score of 2–0. This marked the Blackhawks third Stanley Cup victory in six seasons. This was the first Blackhawks Stanley Cup clinched on home ice in 77 years, having won the decisive games in 2010 and 2013 titles on the road and the first time a Stanley Cup title has been won in Chicago since 1992 when the Pittsburgh Penguins defeated the Blackhawks at Chicago Stadium. It was also the first time any Chicago sports team won a Championship at home since the Chicago Bulls in 1997. Awards Milestones Transactions Player Trades Acquired Free Agents Lost Free Agents Players Claimed Via Waivers Players Lost Via Waivers Player Signings Suspensions & Fines Draft Picks Player Gallery Seabrook2014.jpg|#7 Brent Seabrook (Defenseman) Keith2014.jpg|#2 Duncan Keith (Defenseman) Crawford 2014.jpg|#50 Corey Crawford (Goaltender) Morin 2014-15.jpg|#11 Jeremy Morin (Left Wing) Saad 2014-15.jpg|#20 Brandon Saad (Left Wing) Raanta 2014-15 season.jpg|#31 Antti Raanta (Goaltender) Hartman 2014-15 headshot.jpg|#38 Ryan Hartman (Left Wing) Andrew shaw 2014-15 season.jpg|#65 Andrew Shaw (Right Wing) Kversteeg 2014-15 season.jpg|#23 Kris Versteeg (Right Wing) Sharp2014-15season.jpg|#10 Patrick Sharp (Left Wing) Bensmith2014-15season.jpg|#28 Ben Smith (Right Wing) Kane2014-15season.jpg|#88 Patrick Kane (Right Wing) Toews2014-15.jpg|#19 Jonathan Toews Captain (Center) Oduya2014-15.jpg|#27 Johnny Oduya (Defenseman) Tvr2014.jpg|#57 Trevor van Riemsdyk (Defenseman) Schmaltz2014draftportrait.jpg|Nick Schmaltz (Center) in 1st round of 2014 NHL Entry Draft, 20th overall Beau Starrett.jpg|Beau Starrett (Center\Left Wing) in 3rd round of 2014 NHL Entry Draft, 88th overall Luc Snuggerud.jpg|Luc Snuggerud (Defenseman) in 5th round of 2014 NHL Entry Draft, 141st overall Category:Seasons